The field of the disclosure relates generally to inerting methods and systems to reduce oxygen concentration levels and a concomitant risk of flammability for volatile environments, and more specifically to fuel tank inerting methods and systems for aeronautical vehicles.
In a variety of industries involving highly volatile materials and environments, reducing volatility of the environment and susceptibility to combustion events is a significant concern. To that end, methods and systems have been developed to provide inert gas environments that dramatically reduce, if not eliminate altogether, volatility of the environment. For example, fuel tank systems of modern aircraft are now required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to include fuel inerting systems. Such fuel inerting systems introduce inert gas in the empty space over the fuel in the tanks, sometimes referred to as ullage, to reduce, if not avoid, a likelihood of volatile conditions in the fuel tanks.
On-board inert gas generating systems for aircraft are known. Existing inert gas generating systems however, are quite complicated, expensive to implement and maintain, and have not proven completely satisfactory in use.